


Feathers Are Meant for the Sky

by ErikaWilliams



Series: Mutually Pining Idiots [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Episode Prompto Spoilers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tattoos, Windows Edition Spoilers, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 03:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13849182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaWilliams/pseuds/ErikaWilliams
Summary: He was just admiring the work Gladio had gotten done already really.  He hadn’t allowed himself to look before because he didn’t want Gladio to get the wrong idea.  That woman really was an artist though, the way the dark lines accentuated Gladio’s muscles.  He was still staring when Gladio loosened his pants and tugged them down on his hips a little before laying face down on the table.  He swallowed hard as the artist started to work.  Damn, he was taking that tattoo awfully low.





	Feathers Are Meant for the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing Prompto's updated casual outfit design for the Windows Edition, I just had to write this. I don't care if they turn out to be temporary, or a mistake, the idea was just too cute for me to let go.

“So, what are you doing tonight?” Prompto asked Gladio as he pulled his bag out of his locker and threw his gym clothes in it. He had changed in one of the bathroom stalls after they had finished their drills, ducking out shortly after Gladio had just started stripping next to him. He didn’t quite have the body confidence that Gladio did, especially when Gladio was the one next to him. Even now he had to concentrate on staring straight ahead of him instead of looking at Gladio. 

“I’m getting more work done tonight,” Gladio told him noncommittally as he pulled his own bag out of his locker and shut the door. That’s right. Every two weeks, Gladio would go get more work done on his tattoo. 

“Oh, cool,” Prompto said as he shut his own locker and hurried after Gladio. He didn’t feel like going home to an empty apartment, and he felt like he was monopolizing all of Noct’s time. It was time to expand his social circle, and Gladio was a good option. He already saw a good deal of the Shield between Crownsguard training and hanging out with Not all the time. He just didn’t know what he was going to have to do to get Gladio to pay attention to him. “You know, I’ve been thinking about getting some ink myself.”

“Really?” Gladio asked him with a raised eyebrow. Why was that so difficult to believe? Did Gladio not think he was cool enough or brave enough or whatever?

“Yeah,” Prompto said, folding his arms across his chest as they walked. “Maybe I’ll get it done tonight. Think your place can fit me in?”

“Well, they do accept walk-ins, so I suppose if it’s small enough...” Gladio said rubbing at the back of his neck.

Forty-five minutes later, he found himself sweating profusely as he looked at the wall and the book of offerings. “So many choices,” he said to Gladio as he pretended to be interested in what was in front of him. He was in too deep. He couldn’t possibly get out of this now without losing face in front of Gladio. He had already decided on a location, his left wrist. He already had the other one, so how bad could it really be? Now he just had to decide on the what. Stupid place. Why did they just have to have an extra artist on tonight?

“Good luck,” Gladio said, slapping him on the shoulders. “I’d love to stay and help you decide, but I’ve got an appointment.”

“Sure, go ahead,” he said absently. He didn’t want something that was going to draw too much attention. He could still see Gladio as he made his way into an adjacent room. Of course his artist was a pretty young woman that Gladio had no trouble chatting up. At least Gladio couldn’t catch him staring this time as Gladio pulled his shirt over his head. He was just admiring the work Gladio had gotten done already really. He hadn’t allowed himself to look before because he didn’t want Gladio to get the wrong idea. That woman really was an artist though, the way the dark lines accentuated Gladio’s muscles. He was still staring when Gladio loosened his pants and tugged them down on his hips a little before laying face down on the table. He swallowed hard as the artist started to work. Damn, he was taking that tattoo awfully low.

“You know, you shouldn’t get a tattoo just to impress someone,” the man told him from across the counter.

“I’m not,” he protested, but he knew there was no way he would have been there if Gladio hadn’t been going that evening. He wasn’t doing this to impress Gladio though, not really, although he did think Gladio’s opinion of him would fall if he were to back out now. He chanced another glance in the room at Gladio. He couldn’t see his face, but Gladio seemed completely unfazed by the needle drilling into his back. And if Gladio could handle it, so could he.

“I’ll take that one,” he said, finally picking one out, not because it was something that particularly appealed to him, but because if he wanted to, he could hide it just like he did the other one on his right wrist.

“If you say so,” the guy said, taking the book away from Prompto. He wasn’t too concerned with what it looked like, just as long as it was done. “Take a seat over there,” the man indicated a chair out of the way in the back corner of the room. He took one last look at Gladio who had apparently just said something to make the artist give him a broad smile while she was working. Stupid Gladio and his charm; he could probably make any girl fall for him.

He made his way over to the chair and sat down on it, extending his wrist out on the table. He had done this before, a long time ago, and he remembered absolutely none of it. It couldn’t be that hard right? Gladio had been coming here every two weeks for quite a long time now, and he was still walking around. He obviously trusted this place. He still gritted his teeth at the first pinch of the needle.

He was definitely committed now, and this might just be the stupidest decision he had ever made. This wasn’t going to make Gladio like him any more. All this was going to do was run up his credit card, cause him some major aggravation while it healed, and probably give Noct something to laugh about. No, Noct was definitely going to laugh at him, probably for a long time. He could always just tell him he had decided to do it because he thought it would be cool. Not like Noct would ever believe that.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing to block out the incessant scratching against his wrist. Not to mention a complete stranger was touching him, and while he didn’t mind touching his friends, a stranger was something completely different. This was stupid. It wasn’t even like he was spending any time with Gladio since he was in another room.

It was a long process, which gave him plenty of time to ruminate on the mistakes he had made that day. The first had been agreeing to training with Gladio, because otherwise he never would have known where Gladio was going that evening. Which meant he wouldn’t be here now, having someone drag a needle through his other wrist. On the plus side, the new tattoo might draw attention away from the one covered up on his other wrist.

He was lucky he didn’t jump when someone grabbed his free hand. “How you doing there, champ?” Gladio asked as he turned a chair around and sat down in it. He could only imagine how Gladio’s back must be feeling right about now.

“Oh, just great,” he said, torn between pulling his hand free from Gladio’s grip or just letting it stay there. Maybe he should just let Gladio hold onto him for as long as he wanted to. Odds were good he was never going to get an opportunity like this again.

“I gotta say, I never thought you would actually go through with it.” Gladio peered over him to look at the artist’s work. Prompto couldn’t bring himself to look. Not yet. His poor wrist was probably all red and sore. He gave Gladio’s hand a squeeze when the needle hit a particularly tender spot. He cringed, loosening his grip, sure that Gladio was going to think he was a complete wuss now. But Gladio didn’t say anything, just held his hand a little tighter.

“This is nothing,” he said, trying to put on a brave face. “Besides, I already have one.” He bit his lip, hoping Gladio would let that slide. Stupid pain was making him babble.

“Really?” Gladio asked, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. He knew he should try to divert his attention to something else, but Six help him, this was the most interested Gladio had ever been in something he had to say.

“Yeah, but it’s kind of dumb,” he said, trying to get Gladio uninterested in the topic. His parents had tried to warn him about things like this.

“Oh, now I’ve got to see it,” Gladio said, and he absolutely refused to let go of his hand. Plus, he needed to finish getting this tattoo done since he was in the chair. So he was stuck.

“I was sixteen,” he lied, trying to come up with a plausible story that wouldn’t make Gladio think he was a complete loser. “Used a fake ID.” If he was in this far now, he might as well go all the way. “It’s on my right wrist.”

Before he could say anything else, Gladio was already unsnapping the band hiding the mark. What harm could possibly come from Gladio thinking it was just a tattoo a dumb teenager had picked out? Not like Prompto even knew what it really meant, so he doubted Gladio would.

“What the hell is this?” Gladio asked as he ran his thumb along the bar code, and he tried not to shudder under the touch.

“I told you it was stupid.” Now that Gladio was so focused on him, he kind of wished he would look at something, anything else. At least while he was studying his wrist he couldn’t see the flush creeping to his cheeks. 

“You know, this looks familiar,” Gladio said, pulling Prompto’s hand closer to him. This was probably what his parents had always warned him about. That someone would find out where he was from and then his problems would really begin.

“You got me, Big Guy,” he said with a nervous laugh. “It’s the UPC for Cup Noodles.”

“No, it’s not,” Gladio said. “This bar is too thick,” he said pointing to the second one, “the third one is way too thin, and the whole sequence is off.”

Of course Gladio would know something like that. And he didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up his hand any time soon. 

“I swear I’ve seen this somewhere before,” he murmured.

“Would you believe it’s the ISBN of my favorite book?” There was no way Gladio could have memorized the code on every book. All he would have to do was name one that Gladio had never read. There had to be something out there.

“So why don’t you just have it removed?” Gladio asked. He was no longer staring intently at the bar code, but he still refused to let Prompto’s hand out of his giant bear grip. Prompto’s hand just sort of disappeared in there.

“What?”

“This tattoo,” Gladio said, using his free hand to snap the bracelets back on to Prompto’s wrist. “If you hate it so much, why don’t you just have it removed instead of covering it up all the time?”

He had looked into it, once, but it was too expensive, and he didn’t even know if it would take. He had that bar code for as long as he remembered, but the ink hadn’t even started to fade. Knowing his luck, the laser would just cut his hand off instead, and he wasn’t that desperate to get rid of it yet. So, he settled on the explanation that would be easiest for Gladio to believe.

“I can’t afford it,” he told him point blank, because quite frankly not all of them had some old family money lying around they could just dig into whenever they wanted. He didn’t mention that he was probably going to have to max out his credit card just to pay for this latest mistake, but Gladio was staring at him again like he was studying him and he wasn’t quite sure he liked that.

“Gladiolus,” Gladio’s artist called from over at the counter, “we need to set up your next appointment.”

“You’re almost done,” Gladio told him, giving his hand another quick squeeze and slapping him lightly on the shoulder as he stood up. “I’ll wait for you so I can walk you home.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he called after him, but Gladio waved him off as he made his way up to the counter. He was perfectly capable of walking himself home, just like he was perfectly capable of getting his tattoo without someone holding his hand. He almost wished Gladio were back over with him though, instead of flirting with his artist, as he had no other choice but to grip the arm rest when things got a little too scratchy. He wouldn’t admit to missing Gladio though, not when he was very clearly flirting with his tattoo artist. He couldn’t hear the entire conversation, but he definitely heard the word “cute” being tossed casually around.

“And you’re done,” the artist told him as he pulled the equipment away from his arm, and Prompto finally decided to risk looking at it. It didn’t look awful, even though he was right about his skin being all red. The man handed him a tube of cream along with instructions on how to use it, but he wasn’t really paying attention since he was too busy watching Gladio, trying to figure out what he was doing and why he was talking to that artist so much. How long could it really take for Gladio to make his next appointment, and why was that artist giggling so much? Did he have no shame? Shouldn’t he at least wait until his tattoo was done before he asked her out? What if things went wrong? Then he would have to switch artists and then his tattoo might get messed up. He couldn’t trust someone else to do as good of a job.

“He’s paid for,” Gladio’s artist called over to them with a grin. Great, now Gladio was not only taking pity on him, he was getting the tattoo artist to pity him as well. He should leave, and probably thank Gladio for paying for him as well. Not that he had asked him to. And Gladio was not going any where yet, so he probably was going to insist on walking him home. Might as well get this over with. 

“You don’t have to do this,” he said as Gladio held the door open for him and they stepped out into the street.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Noct would kill me if I let you walk home alone at this time.” 

Of course. Gladio wouldn’t walk him home just because he wanted to spend more time with him. Now Gladio just thought he couldn’t pay for a tattoo himself and he couldn’t walk himself home. He preferred it when Gladio didn’t seem to know he existed at all.

“So Noct tells me that you like to jog in the morning.”

Just perfect. Now Noct and Gladio were talking about him behind his back, so Noct was probably going to know about both his tattoos by the morning. This was why his parents had told him never to show it to anyone.

“Y-yeah. You can get some really great shots first thing in the morning when there aren’t as many people around.”

“Great. So I’ll swing by your place around 5 am tomorrow.”


End file.
